Damsel on the Knight Bus
by Miss92
Summary: She shrieked and her hands gripped the nearest candle bracket as the bus came to a sudden halt. Silently, and with her eyes closed, she vowed to herself never to travel by the Knight Bus again.


She shrieked and her hands gripped the nearest candle bracket as the bus came to a sudden halt Damsel on the Knight Bus

She shrieked and her hands gripped the nearest candle bracket as the bus came to a sudden halt. Silently, and with her eyes closed, she vowed to herself never to travel by the Knight Bus again. Her stomach already protested and she felt a burning liquid rise up and down her throat, leaving behind a bitter and somewhat sour taste in her mouth.

She did not dare open her eyes for she was sure people were staring at her. Though not many people were there in the first place. Only an old witch, who was sleeping on one of the beds and snoring quite loudly, and a middle-aged wizard, who had been reading the Daily Prophet with much interest the last time, she had opened her eyes.

"All right, get on," said the conductor. His voice sounded quite harsh, she had noticed. "We haven't got all day, you know."

She slowly opened her eyes to find a cloaked figure step into the Knight Bus. It was a man, a young man, but she could not make out his face for only his chin was visible. He sat down on one of the beds opposite of her and her quite comforting candle bracket. She looked away from him; she did not want to be caught staring at him, and instead looked at her own fingers. Her knuckles had turned white from holding onto the candle bracket so tightly.

"Get started, Ernie!" said the conductor lazily and he yawned openly so she could see exactly how big his mouth was. She was about to let out a bit of a disgusted sound when the bus started driving again and instead let out another one of her high shrieks. She would never get used to this bus or to the reckless driving of the driver. She now somehow wished she sat in the backseat of her father's car. Her father was the slowest and safest driver she knew.

"Are you scared?" she heard a deep voice ask in an almost mocking manner. She looked away from the conductor and stared at the cloaked young man. The cloaked figure wore a cocky grin on his lips and she almost automatically glared at him.

"No," she simply answered, but she was betrayed by another one of her shrieks when the bus suddenly stopped. She heard the cloaked young man chuckle to himself and decided not to pay any more attention to him. Instead she looked out of the window to see what had made them stop so suddenly. It had been a smoking man with his black Labrador.

She was now prepared when the Knight Bus raced away again at full speed and she did not shriek anymore, but she had to bite her lip not to.

"First time I went on the Knight Bus I was scared to death," said the cloaked young man with the deep voice. He was talking to her, but she decided to not look in his direction. He was probably only seeking attention or shamelessly mocking her and laughing behind her back. "I was six at the time."

She frowned and huffed. "Are you saying you think I'm childish for not particularly enjoying my trip on the Knight Bus?"

She looked at the cloaked young man out of the corner of her eye. He was shaking his head and a grin was once again playing at his lips. "No, I'm not," he said and stretched his arms out, "I'm just telling you that no one likes their first trip with the Knight Bus. There's no need to defend yourself."

She shook her head and decided to stop listening to him. That smile had betrayed him; he had not been serious. He had been mocking her and if there was one thing she did not like it was being mocked upon. But somehow she could not completely stop listening to him. His voice was a nice kind of deep and made her feel more comfortable.

"I was going to see my first Quidditch match with my dear old dad," he said and he couldn't stop the smile from growing wider. "I had been begging him to take me with him the next time he would go see one and on my sixth birthday he told me I was big enough to go see a Quidditch match with him."

She almost smiled herself and had to bite her lip again to not do so. The cloaked young man did not stop telling his tale. "He took me on the Knight Bus, claiming that it was a tradition he started to travel by Knight Bus to a Quidditch match."

The cloaked young man chuckled to himself. "I held onto my father's jacket for dear life and told him I never wanted to go see a Quidditch match again if we were to travel by this bus. But apparently my love for the game and my, of course, amazing talents when it comes to handling the Quaffle did make me get on this bus again…"

She now did smile slightly and turned her head towards the cloaked young man.

"James Potter," she said softly as realisation downed on her. The cloaked young man grinned and removed his cloak, revealing himself as the black-haired boy with the glasses on his nose.

"Lily Evans," he said and looked her up and down, "I couldn't believe my own luck when I saw you standing there, holding onto that candle bracket for dear life."

She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head while at the same time she wrapped her hand around the candle bracket more tightly.

"So," James said and let go of a yawn before going further, "what is your purpose of travelling, my fair damsel on the Knight Bus?"

Again she rolled her eyes and had to stifle a yawn herself before answering him. "I'm visiting my mum's aunt in London," she said and smiled slightly. "I will stay with her for about three days to get all the necessary school books and quills."

James nodded and smiled at her. "Sounds like fun," he said and lay himself down on the bed while closing his eyes.

For a moment Lily stared at him, feeling a bit offended. Apparently he didn't find her interesting enough to stay awake for and that did somehow hurt her in a strange way, though she would never admit that to herself let alone anyone else.

After about twenty seconds, she decided to turn her eyes away from him and she stared out of the window. Lights passed by at high speed and she realised the bus had brought her to London already. In a few minutes the Knight Bus would stop in front of her aunt's old and enchanting apartment and she would be freed of the constant nauseous feeling in her stomach.

Sooner than she had been expecting the bus came to a sudden halt. She had to tighten her grip on the candle bracket again while her eyes were already searching for her suitcase that she had lost after the second time they had suddenly stopped.

"Go on, puppet," said the conductor lazily, "this is your stop."

She nodded and was relieved to find her suitcase near the exit of the Knight Bus. Quickly she walked towards it and was about to lift it with her right hand when a hand that wasn't hers had already picked it up. She did not protest, not wanting to cause a scene, and she quietly got off the Knight Bus with a wave and a faint sounding 'thank you and bye'.

The Knight Bus left as soon as her suitcase and James Potter got off as well, leaving them standing on the pavement. James grinned at her and she rolled her eyes at him and reached her hand out so he could hand her suitcase to her, but he shrugged and shook his head.

"It's no problem, really," he said and winked at her, making the nauseating feeling in her stomach return, though it did feel slightly different. Slightly less horrible. "Number 19?" he asked and she nodded, following him up the stairs to the door. He put his index finger to the doorbell and chuckled at himself when he heard the faint sound of the ringing bell.

She did not know what to do. She did even dare say that she had never been this unsure in her life before. But she did not have much time to think about what to say to him or how to thank him for being a gentleman since the door opened and revealed her great aunt.

The grey hair still had some blonde streaks in it and a bright smile was plastered on her wrinkled face. "Lily, dear," was all her great aunt said before she captured Lily in a tight hug. Lily felt how her cheeks burned as she could feel how James' intent gaze was directed at her.

"And who is this?" asked her aunt, who was about to wrap James in a tight embrace as well, but Lily was could stop her from doing so just in time.

"He's a friend," she said quickly and silently begged her aunt not to wrap her arms around him. "He carried my suitcase for me," she added lamely and from the corner of her eye she could see how James stuck out his hand to her great aunt.

"James Potter," he said with his famous grin playing at his lips. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

Her great aunt smiled at him and nodded. "Eleanor," she said, "so kind of you to carry Lily's suitcase."

"No problem," James said and he turned his gaze towards her, "I should go."

Lily nodded and was about to say good-bye when her great aunt interrupted her. "I will leave you two on your own so you can properly say good-bye to each other then."

Her cheeks warmed up again as she noticed how her great aunt winked in her direction. She was sure James had seen it, but if he had he wasn't being weird about it. He was completely calm and collected as he extended his hand for her to shake it. She slowly let their hands meet and felt a shiver go through her body as soon as they made contact.

"I will see you on the Hogwarts' Express," James said and he smiled at her.

"Yes," she said and put a few loose strands of her auburn hair behind her ear, "I will see you there."

James walked down the three steps leading to the pavement and then turned around. "I really enjoyed talking to you," he said and she noticed a faint blush appear on his cheeks. This left her completely flabbergasted. "I kind of missed being around you, my damsel on the Knight Bus."

She did not reply and only watched him walk away from her great aunt's apartment and eventually saw him disappear around the corner. Only then did she realise how much her heart beat had sped up and she seemed to wake up from what seemed a hypnotising conversation.

She slowly turned around, lifted her suitcase and pushed open the door to reveal her great aunt standing in the hallway with a knowing smile playing at her lips. Lily felt the blush appear again and avoided her great aunt's eyes.

"I've got tea and some biscuits," said her great aunt and she disappeared from the hallway.

Lily took a few deep breaths and calmed herself down. This year at Hogwarts, she thought, might not turn out to be the same as the years before. She blinked a few times before she entered the living room and grinned at her aunt. "Oh, aunt Eleanor, I could eat all of your biscuits!"

The End 


End file.
